Kodak Hero 5.1 printer won't print black

I've got a Kodak Hero 5.1 printer, only a few months old. It gets fairly light use. It was printing OK about 2 weeks ago, when I went on holiday. I left it switched on, came back, and it refuses to print black. I've checked the ink cartridges (both fine), taken out the print head and gently cleaned it with methylated spirit, used the print head cleaning utility repeatedly, but no joy. I'm going to have to buy another printer as a temporary replacement until I get this sorted out, as although I don't use it heavily, when I DO want to print something, I need the printer to work!

Anyone else come across this, and any suggestions? A Google search suggests it's a common problem, but no-one seems to have any answers, apart from replacing the print head.

What happens when you print a test page? Also you say you checked the carts, but have you replaced them? Just out of interest why did you leave the printer on when you went on holiday?

The test page comes out with colour but no black. Oddly enough, if you use the copy function, you'll get sort of grey print because the colour cartridge tries to duplicate black, but when printing from the computer, black and colour are completely separate.

I have replaced both cartridges, and the ink checker seems to be working. Apparently Kodak printers do a self-check that's supposed to maintain the print heads when the printer's idle, which is why you should leave the printer on all the time (or so the bulletin boards tell me!). Even if this wasn't the case, I don't think it would have mattered much either way as regards the state of the print head.

Hmmm...let me see. 2 suggestions: 1) Try resetting to default settings. If this doesn't work....2) First try doing a system restore to when the printer was printing black and if this doesn't work undo the restore then restore back to before you installed it, then reinstall from scratch. Check for affected programs if you do either of suggestion 2) and make sure the restore is configured to restore all your previous files and the system settings. You might have to update your anti-virus/malware definitions if you carry out a restore.

Or if you don't fancy trying above suggestions, as it's still under guarantee, and you know it's a common problem with no ready solution, go back to the retailer and say you've carried out the recommended steps to try to solve the error without success so you want the printer fixed. See if they'll lend you a printer while they fix it because you need it for your work, or something along those lines.

Fortunately for me, if you register the printer, as I did, Kodak's own service plan seems to be a lot better than Curries Digital (which also costs money, and involves more hassle). Kodak has agreed to send me a new print head free of charge, which hopefully will solve the problem, so fair play to them. I think that although Kodak themselves suggest leaving the printer on when not in use, I possibly haven't been giving it enough of a "work-out", especially over Christmas and while I was away. These printers are such prima donnas!

Meanwhile, I picked up an Epson XP-305 for under £50 as a backup (there are two of us using printers, so we need to have at least one working). The Epson isn't as robust as the Kodak, but it does air printing, cloud printing and remote printing, as well as scanning and copying, and gets good reviews. Fingers crossed!